Strings for a Musicmaster...

[mtman1]

I am looking to put new strings on my Musicmaster. I was wondering if anyone knows if Thomastik-Infeld JF324H Flat Wound Short Scale HOFNER Bass Guitar Strings will work. I have the Jazz Flats they make on my P Bass and I really like their tone and feel. Thanks!

 

[outbackyak]

I think that there might be problems. Even though Hofner Beatle Basses and the Musicmaster are both short scale instruments (~ 30 inches), the Beatle Bass has a trapeze tailpiece, which uses up an extra 1.5 to 2 inches of string before the bridge. That extra length is going to end up wrapped around the tuning pegs on your Musicmaster, and you don't want the main body of the string wrapping around your tuning peg, or you may get major problems with tuning instability - only the tapered section of the string should be on the tuning peg.

I had a look at http://www.stringsandbeyond.com/thjfflwoshsc.html for these strings, and they say they are for short scale 32 inch, specifically designed for Beatle Basses, which suggests to me that they probably won't work with your bass.

For what it's worth, I've got DA Chromes (short scale 30 inch) on my Musicmaster, and the E string comes very close to wrapping the main body of the string onto the peg - it's fine, but I wouldn't want the string to be any longer. I love the sound of the Chromes on this bass, but I'm guessing you are looking for something a lot more traditional, and I can't help you there as these Chromes are the first flatwounds I've used since the early 70s.

Anybody else got any ideas on this?

 

[mtman1]

Thanks for your input. Saved me from buying them. I think I'm going to try the flatwounds that GHS makes. I read some good reviews about their tone and they sound like they will fit well on a musicmaster. They are priced well too. That and a Aero Musicmasterer pickup and it should ready for playing out.